Joseph Louis Lorich

Joseph Lorich transitioned on October 17th, 2025 at the age of 38. He was born in Miami, Florida on May 11, 1987 to his parents, Michael and Kerry Lorich. Kerry’s labor began the day before Mother’s Day, and they fully expected Kerry would receive the greatest Mother’s Day gift ever of her first child. But, as he loved to tell the story, that year he only gave her the gift of labor pains as he didn’t arrive until the next morning.

From a young age, Joey knew he wanted to work in computers, which was his second dream, after the dream of wanting to be a pizza delivery man. But his love of computers began early, starting a business as a teenager where he designed websites for local businesses. He was an extremely gifted software engineer, pulling together a beautiful combination of intuition and logic to build and create. Joey was able to solve problems in ways that very few people could.

He graduated from Westminster Christian School in 2005 and received Bachelor of Science degrees in both Computer Science and Information Technology from the University of Central Florida in 2010. Joey was incredibly bright and learned that often only a small amount of effort was needed to ace his courses. In one college course, he never went to class except for the exam days according to the syllabus. Thank goodness the schedule didn’t change!

Joey was extremely proud of the technologies he supported over the course of his career. At UniKey Technologies, he led the development of the first cloud-based IoT platform for physical access control, powering 1M+ connected devices and enabling keyless door entry, as seen on Shark Tank.

He was recruited by Microsoft in 2018 and worked there for nearly 5 years. He would often see the results of his projects out in the world and would snap a picture and share it with his beloved coworkers. He worked with Kohler and loved to call it “Internet of Toilets (IoT)” instead of “Internet of Things (IoT).” Joey also worked on Cooler Screens, the digital displays that replaced Ty refrigerator doors in CVS to display marketing ads. Every time he went to Chicago he would take a “field trip” to the CVS on State Street so he could see his baby in action. During COVID, an extremely challenging time for the world, Joey was able to contribute in a meaningful way. He worked with Purell on connecting all the hand sanitizers in hospitals ensuring every doctor was washing their hands prior to treating patients.

In 2025, Joey was hired by an Italian company called Exein as the Director of Solutions Engineering – for the Americas as they began to expand into the U.S. In his short time there, he had an impact on identifying and solving problems. His knowledge, network, and intelligence were an incredible asset everywhere he went.

Joey was an incredibly loving husband, son, brother, and friend. He had the biggest heart, a disposition for generosity, and a talent for just about everything. Joey’s male friends never liked it when their female partners heard stories of his over-the-top romantic gestures because nobody would out-effort Joey. He was one of the most thoughtful humans on the planet when he was in love, and he wore his heart on his sleeve.

He loved attending trivia night with friends, pulling all-nighters when new video games debuted, and … He constantly had projects around the house, everything from installing a disco ball in the sunroom to setting up a swing set in the backyard – nope, not for kids – just for fun.

Joey followed in his father’s footsteps in many ways. The two of them loved woodworking and enjoyed doing projects together. He always picked up his father’s talent for cooking, and his meals were not just delicious, but also beautiful. His family loved the tradition of visiting Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario, Canada. Joey loved enjoying fireworks with his parents in the proud city of Buffalo, where they always find a reason to light up the sky with beauty.

Joey was absolutely delighted by the birth of his niece, Arianna Sisto, in February of 2025. Becoming an uncle softened his already gentle heart in new ways, and he was so happy about his sister’s growing family.

He is survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Cody and Johnny Sisto, his niece Arianna Sisto, his parents, Kerry and Michael Lorich, his wife, Laura Gallaher, and his “babies” (dogs), Grace and Jackson.

Funeral arrangements will be held at 1 pm on Sunday, November 2 at Baldwin Fairchild at Chapel Hill.

In honor of Joseph Louis Lorich, we will celebrate his life with a livestream. We’ll share the viewing link here as soon as it’s available. Please check back for the link and joining instructions.